William James ABLESON

Commemorated:
1. Grave:	Montay-Neuvilly Road Cemetery Montay	IV.A.7
2. Book:	The (1921) Masonic Roll of Honour 1914-1918	Pg.115
3. Memorial:	The (1940) Scroll - WW1 Roll of Honour	11D GQS

Awards & Titles:

Family :

Son of William and Mary Ableson, of Guisborough; husband of Annie Mary Ableson, of Alma House, Redcar Rd., Guisborough, Yorks.
William ABLESON was born and enlisted in Guisborough.

Service Life:

Campaigns:

The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

Unit / Ship / Est.: 16th Battalion The Kings Royal Rifle Corps

16th (Service) Battalion (Church Lads Brigade) Formed at Denham, Bucks., on 19 September 1914 by Field-Marshal Lord Grenfell, Commandant of the Church Lads Brigade, from current and previous members of that organisation. Moved in March 1915 to Rayleigh but retuend to Denham in May. June 1915 : moved to Clipstone Camp and attached to 100th Brigade in 33rd Division. Moved on to Perham Down in August 1915. 17 November 1915 : landed at Le Havre.

Action : The Final Advance in Artois

The Final Advance in Artois occured 2nd October - 11th November 1918. Concurrently with the advances in the Somme and Arras sectors the First and Fifth British Armies continued the advance and chase the Germans back towards the Belgian border.

He served with the 16th Battalion Kings Royal Rifle Corps which was noted for having been largely formed in September 1914 from members of the Church Lads Brigade, a Christian youth organisation with particular strength in the industrial towns and London. In effect this battalion was a Pals Battalion except that its Pals were drawn from across the country rather from a single limited geographical location. By 1918 when William ABLESON died, the battalion had long since lost most of its original members but the ethos of the Church Lads Brigade remained. The war diary of the 16/Kings Royal Rifle Corps tells us of the events that led to the death of William in the final days of the war; 12th October 1918; The 16th Battalion made a gallant but unsuccessful effort to cross the River Selle and pierce the enemy's lines on the Le Cateau-Solesmes railway. The Battalion eventually gained its objective without a barrage but was entirely 'in the air'. The CO, Lt Col F L Pardoe had an engagement with the enemy at 30 yards range and was badly hit. The enemy's attempt to cut off the battalion was however frustrated and the battalion reorganised on the Neuvilly-Le Cateau road. In this action 2 officers were killed and 119 other ranks were killed or wounded. One of the other ranks was Brother Lance Corporal William ABLESON.

Masonic :

Type	Lodge Name and No.	Province/District :
Mother :	Zetland No. 561 E.C.	Yorkshire (North & East Ridings)

Initiated	Passed	Raised
22nd August 1917	17th October 1917	3rd December 1917

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The (UK) National Archives
Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
Researcher : Bruce Littley

Last Updated: 2023-09-23 11:08:01